How to get into a midwifery course at Uni?

[LittleBing]

I'll start with some background. I'd be a mature student. I'm going to start an access course to nursing and midwifery in April. I have 3 A Levels but not related to midwifery (politics, history and philosophy). I have 7 GCSEs including English and maths but not science. Will the access course be enough or will I need to do gcse biology? I contacted my hospital last year for work experience or shadowing and they said no but I could try the one an hour away but not guaranteed. Assuming I do well in my access course, would I be likely to get onto a midwifery course with no gcse or work experience or am I wasting my time applying. I'd be applying in 2021. Any answers would be fab. TIA

Yes, check the credibility of your online Access course. How many students have the universities accepted onto the midwifery course in the last few years with an online access qualification? They will have a high proportion of access intake but the chances are that they are via traditional routes.

So I didn't want to be massively outing but DC's dad helps quite a lot. DC2 isn't in nursery yet and I work full time, he works part time and watches DC2 during the day when I can't and has them 2/3 nights a week. I think asking to watch them every night for a week at times is doable if I make it up to him and do it for him. We've spoken about it a bit and it seems to see doable but his mum would have them maybe once every two/ three weeks if needed.

@WellErrr

I didn’t say they were

@LittleBing, as far as I’m aware, midwives are the same as nurses in that the course is 50/50 practice and theory (including a 24/7/365 clinical shift pattern when in practice), so you may very well need to lean on your ex and his family a lot in the 3 years. It’s good that you have that back up.

Midwifery is massively more competitive. They don’t really make allowances for personal circumstances.

They absolutely do, or at least some do.

@WellErrr

I didn’t say they were

Apologies @WellErrr, I tagged you by mistake. That was meant for @WireBrushAndDettolMaam.

I’m a mature midwifery student. The uni I’m at asked for a science GCSE along with the Access qualification. I did my Access course online rather than at college as it suited me better with regards to childcare etc. I did check with the uni admissions team before starting my Access course that it had the right number of biology credits and would be accepted.

My advice would be to go along to any upcoming open days the unis you’re interested are having. It’s also worth looking into whether the student run midwifery societies at the unis you want to go to are running any conferences or study days that you can go along to. You can then use this in your personal statement when you apply through UCAS.

I had absolutely zero care experience when I applied and got my place in my first round of trying. My background is financial services, both customer facing and back office.

Having robust childcare in place is absolutely essential. When on placement you can be working any shifts, so long days and nights including weekends. There’s also a lot of independent study when at uni to be carried out outside of teaching time. It’s a juggle with kids but doable as long as you’re committed and organised.

Good luck! 😊